BP Amoco and Algerian state hydrocarbons firm Sonatrach have signed a USD 2.5 billion deal to jointly develop the country’s In Salah gas reserves, executives of the two firms said. In Salah is expected to be the second largest gas field in the North African country after Sonatrach-run Hassi R’mel. BP Amoco will fund 65% of the development of the 200-billion cubic metres of gas over the next three decades and Sonatrach will contribute 35%, the firms said. A consortium that includes Kellogg-Brown, Root Condor and Japan’s JGC has won a USD 667 million deal for the construction of processing and storage facilities, while US engineering and construction firm Bechtel has clinched a USD 439 million contract for a 460km-long gas pipeline network. Algerian state-run drilling firm Enafor, an arm of Sonatrach, will drill 33 wells in In Salah under a USD 49-million contract. Officials said investments for the first phase, running from 2001 to 2004, would amount to USD 1.72 billion. The second phase, running till 2027, would cost USD 781 million.
